You've Got It All Wrong
by elsbian
Summary: HUDDY. Set after 'Joy' but before 'The Itch'. After spending a week worrying about it, Cuddy finally realises that The Kiss meant something. One-Shot, please R&R.


**Not my first House fanfic, but it is the first one I have posted on here. All reviews and comments appreciated. References to 'Joy'. Rated T because it got me banned from the House forum. **

**Chow.**

**Elliot.**

* * *

Cuddy sat in her car, the rain battering against the windows and merging with the other raindrops as they slid down the glass. The moonlight reflected off the surface of the dashboard, coating it in a silvery light. The orange glow from the streetlamps bathed Cuddy in their light as she shivered softly. She let out a sigh and ran her fingers through her hair, struggling to remember why she bothered coming here. A car rushed past with its music blasting from its open windows, the vibrations from the bass echoing through the street, causing Cuddy to look up and let out another sigh.

"Why?" Cuddy whispered to herself, her voice throaty and hoarse. She was unable to explain her irrational decision to drive here. Her eyes darted around the car looking for her phone that had slid off of her lap and had been thrown around the floor of her car throughout her journey to House's apartment.

"Ow!" Cuddy pulled her hand back quickly when she felt something sharp scratch across her palm. She looked down to see a trickle of blood seeping through her skin. She searched around for a piece of material to wipe off the blood but found that she had no option but to use her low-cut red top. The very same top that she was wearing when House helped her with IVF. The very same top that she had last felt happy in. Now all of her thoughts were overcast by shadows of her memories of Joy. The baby she thought she would finally get. The baby that was taken from her at the last minute. She quickly brushed away the tear trickling down her rosy cheek and took a deep breath.

Pulling her scarf tighter around her neck and wiping away another pinprick of blood from her hand, she opened her car door and covered her head with her coat, using it as an umbrella.

She slammed the car door shut and locked it, quickly shoving her keys in her pocket and attempted to jog the very small distance to House's door.

The wind whipped against her face and her bare legs, sending shivers up her spine that caused her whole body to shake for a few brief moments. The bitter rain pelted at her at full speed, making her squint against the oncoming storm.

She hopped up the couple of steps that led to the door of House's apartment. She shivered again and patted her pockets, making sure she had her keys. Of course she knew that she had her keys, but she needed something to distract her from her current situation; standing soaking wet on House's doorstop with no apparent reason for being there.

She shut her eyes tightly, partly to protect them from the fierce wind that was threatening to blow her over and partly because her mind numbingly frustrating conscience was beginning to get to her.

She reached a frozen numb hand out and balled it in to a fist, getting ready to knock, but a voice sang out from inside. A familiar voice. A low, gruff and sarcastic voice that she had come to recognise as one of her favourite sounds. She smiled at the absurd reason she willingly decided to get soaked. Only one person had that power over her. It wasn't his words she loved so much but his actions. Ever since he had kissed her she had been denying that she had any feelings for him. Why would she have feelings for him? He was rude, annoying and obviously not anybody's first choice for a date, but she saw through his rough exterior.

She had seen a vunerable side of him, a side of him that nobody else had seen. The feeling of having somebody trust her enough to let down all barriers surrounding him made Cuddy feel like the most special person in the world.

Her thoughts were interrupted by another wave of song erupting from inside the apartment. She frowned, trying to remember what the song was. She could hear the lyrics fairly clearly and the amplified guitar chords echoed in to the night.

"_Today is gonna be the day that they're gonna throw it back to you,_

_By now you should have somehow realised what you've got to do._

_I don't believe that anybody feels the way I do_

_About you now_"

The lyrics silenced her. Even her cold, heavy breaths were completely silent, too scared to scare away the moment by making any sound.

She smiled. He couldn't have been playing a better song.

The lyrics relit a spark in her heart, the fire burning up and warming her entire body, filling her with hope. Although she knew that the song he was playing was a coincidence and he obviously had no idea she was out there, even the simple thought that he could be singing about her made emotions of pure joy explode throughout her body, making her shiver again.

"_Back beat the word is on the street that fire in your heart is out._

_I'm sure you've heard it all before but you never really had a doubt._

_I don't believe that anybody feels the way I do_

_About you now_"

A quiet, inaudible noise of happiness left her frozen lips, taking her song-induced warmth with her. Her body once again turned cold and before she could change her mind she tapped her pale knuckles against the hard wood of the door. Taking in a deep breath, she smiled and listened to the unmistakable sound of his amp switching off and his cane bumping on the floor.

"_And all the roads we have to walk are winding,_

_And all the lights that lead us there are blinding._

_There are many things that I would like to say to you,_

_But I don't know how_"

House's fingers gently strummed the chords of the song he was playing. He'd never really played Oasis before, but this song seemed fitting for the mood he was in.

"_Because maybe,_

_You're gonna be the one that-_"

House stopped singing when he heard faint knocking on his door. 'Jesus', he thought, 'Whoever that is better not have heard me singing...'

He stood up and leant his guitar against his couch before limping over to his amp. He flicked the switch off before retrieving his cane from the floor next to him. He glanced out of the window and saw the rain coming down hard and crashing on to the floor outside before splashing back up again; making it look like a white sheet was covering the road.

He smiled at the thought of somebody having to come and see him in this weather.

He slowly made his way over to the door before pulling it open, not bothering to look at who it was.

"If you tell anybody I was singing I will rip your head off and shove it up your-", he began.

"House." Cuddy said, trying to bite back a smirk from his predictable reaction when he realised who it was.

His eyes travelled from her dripping wet heels to her damp skirt before stopping at her shirt.

He frowned, why was Cuddy here?

"I wasn't expecting company, you'll have to excuse the mess", House said, looking up at Cuddy.

Cuddy glanced past him at the empty bottles of alcohol and vicodin scattered across his coffee table. She arched her brow and smirked at House.

"Feeling lonely are we?" she questioned.

"Says you; you're the one that's standing outside my apartment in the pouring rain." House replied, pointing his cane accusingly at her.

"Yeah about that... It's freezing. Do you mind if I-"

"One step ahead of you", House said before Cuddy had even finished her sentence. He stepped sideways and bowed as she walked past him.

"I heard you playing." Cuddy stated, feeling some of the warmth she had felt listening to him bubble up inside her again.

"I gathered you would have." House answered, walking past Cuddy and getting a towel from his bathroom.

Throwing the towel over her head, House then walked in to his kitchen area and switched on the kettle.

"Thanks." Cuddy said sarcastically, removing the towel from her head and sitting down on the couch. "I didn't realise you liked Oasis. Thought you were more of a Rolling Stones kind of guy..."

"I don't like Oasis, and I am a Rolling Stones kind of guy, I just felt like playing something new." House answered, reaching up and getting 2 mugs out of his cupboard. "Tea or coffee?"

"Coffee. Why the sudden change of style? You hate change." Cuddy said, putting the towel over the back of the sofa and watching House lean against the wall rubbing his thigh. "You in pain?" she asked, frowning.

He hated her seeing him like this. He hated anyone seeing him like this. The faint ripples of pain were making his thigh ache and he closed his eyes as he rubbed the tender area where his muscle used to be. He pulled his vicodin out of his pocket and popped the cap open before pouring two pills in to his hand. He threw them in to the air and caught them both in his mouth, dry swallowing them.

Cuddy flinched when House closed his eyes. She was used to seeing him in pain but he usually tries to hide it and disguise it as something else. He wasn't even attempting to hide his pain today.

"Play it again", she said softly. She wanted to distract House from his pain but she also wanted to hear him singing Wonderwall again.

"Are you joking? I threatened to kill you because you heard me before and that was when I didn't know you were there, I'm hardly going to do it out of my own free will when I actually know you're here." House said seriously, but Cuddy could tell he was trying to hold back a laugh.

"Play!" Cuddy demanded, nodding at the guitar leaning next to her before adding as an afterthought: "Or I'll give you double clinic duty for a month."

House laughed this time, unable to hold it inside. "Like you'd do that just because I didn't play a song for you. ...Play a song to you... Play a song in front of you", House stumbled over his words, annoyed with himself for saying he was playing a song for her in the first place.

"I might." Cuddy arched her brow. She had noticed his not-so-subtle mistakes but decided to pretend she hadn't incase he decided to get rid of her. "Are you willing to risk it? Double clinic duty... For a month. It could all be avoided if you'd just play the song for me."

"In front of you", House corrected, "And you wouldn't. I know you wouldn't. You're too nice to the patients; you'd never dump me with them just because I refused to play a song."

"Again, is it really worth the risk? Do you really think you have me all figured out? I'm at your apartment in the middle of the night, you didn't know I was going to do that." She immediately regretted what she'd said; now she'd reminded him that he didn't know why she was here. And she still didn't have the answer to that question.

"Good point. Why are you here?" House asked, smirking. He had forgotten to ask that very important question. He could guess, and he would probably be right, but guessing something you know isn't nearly as fun as acting clueless and annoying her about it until she admits the reason.

"You're deflecting." Cuddy said, trying to avoid being caught out by attempting to distract him.

"So are you." House smirked.

"I might tell you if you play the song. Deal?" Cuddy answered with a smirk of her own. She was hoping he'd take the deal so she could hear his seductive low singing voice again. "And don't cheat - You have to play the whole song, not just part of it.

"The keyword there being _might_." House said while he juggled with the two coffee filters he had got out of his dusty cupboard.

"All you have to do is play a song and you get to hear me say the words you've been dying to hear me say since you met me." Cuddy said, trying to sell the idea to House. She did love him, but she would never say that to him. Too many relationships are built on the false idea that the couple are in love, and Cuddy didn't want that with House, not that she would ever get it.

House frowned and considered what she was offering. All he had to do was play one song. Admittedly this would be an easier decision to make if she hadn't caught him out by saying he had to play the whole song. "More." He finally said. "I want something more. Then I'll do it."

Cuddy arched her brow and smiled. "Like what?"

"2 weeks of no crotch swabbing." He said, smirking.

"Oooh no, no way. I'm not giving you two weeks off of clinic duty!" Cuddy argued. She raised her voice but her laughter was breaking through.

"I didn't say two weeks off of clinic duty, I said two weeks of no crotch swabbing." House replied calmly. He had gotten so caught up in their discussion that he had forgotten all about making the coffee and only remembered when he turned around to see two empty mugs staring back at him. "Oops."

Cuddy had also forgotten about the coffee, having been far too busy talking to House to worry about anything else. She thought about his proposal for a few moments, carefully thinking about it from every angle, making sure there was no way she could be tricked at all. She finally decided it was safe after House had let out at least five impatient sighs.

House nodded and stirred the coffee before walking over to her with the coffee, placing it in to her soft hands that had finally warmed up from the conditions outside.

"Thanks." Cuddy smiled. Her eyes lit up when she smiled, lighting up the whole room with her. House smiled back, letting down some of his defences.

House picked up his guitar, a Gibson Les Paul Studio Fireburst, and switched on the amp. It buzzed in to life as House wandered over to a chair and sat down. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He hadn't realised how hard he would find it to play guitar and sing in front of Cuddy, at least not while she was sitting in a tight, wet skirt on his couch watching him with a look on her face that made him shiver with anticipation.

Cuddy noticed how embarrassed House looked and smiled. '_He is human_', she thought. "Go on then, if you want those two weeks of no crotch swabbing." The smile never left her face as he began the song. As he played the first chords of the song she put her coffee on the table and lay down on her front, watching him lose himself in the music. Cuddy was lying down with her arms splayed out in front of her on the couch while House's fingers swiftly changed position on the frets with no hesitation.

"_...Because maybe, _

_You're gonna be the one that saves me._

_And after all,_

_You're my wonderwall._"

Cuddy smiled, letting the words soak over her body and melt in to her. She closed her eyes and rested her chin in the palms of her hands. House was completely engrossed in the music, oblivious to anything around him. Oblivious to Cuddy quietly standing up and pulling another chair over to the space next to him.

"_Today was gonna be the day but they'll never throw it back to you._

_By now you should have somehow realised what you're not to do._

_I don't believe that anybody feels the way I do_

_About you now._"

House opened his eyes when he felt movement next to him. Cuddy had pulled a chair over and was sitting next to him smiling.

He furrowed his brow but continued to sing, looking in to Cuddy's eyes the whole time.

"_And all the roads we have to walk are winding,_

_And all the lights that lead us there are blinding._

_There are many things that I would like to say to you,_

_But I don't know how._"

Cuddy looked in to House's bright eyes. Blue locked on blue. Sky locked on sea. The perfect match.

"_Because maybe, _

_You're gonna be the one that saves me._

_And after all,_

_You're my wonderwall._"

House awkwardly shifted in his seat again, feeling the intensity of Cuddy's gaze piercing through his last defences and burning in to his heart. He looked away and concentrated on the chords he was playing. Once again he found himself getting lost in his music. He closed his eyes and the music appeared in front of him in the form of bright lights. They swirled and danced around, engulfing everything in their path, capturing everything in their eternal light.

"_I said maybe,_

_You're gonna be the one that saves me._

_And after all,_

_You're my wonderwall._"

Cuddy placed a hand on House's shoulder, bringing him back from the music. She smiled at him and leant her head against him. House frowned but didn't shake her off. He'd never experienced this feeling before. He was singing a song... For Cuddy, and he'd never realised how beautiful she looked with her eyes shut as she melted in to him.

"_I said maybe,_

_You're gonna be the one that saves me._

_And after all,_

_You're my wonderwall._

_I said maybe,_

_You're gonna be the one that saves me._

_You're gonna be the one that saves me._

_You're gonna be the one that saves me._

_You're gonna be the one that saves me_."

House finished the song with a final chord that echoed through his apartment, bouncing off the walls and dancing off in to the distance. He looked down at Cuddy who, in turn, was looking up at him. Her eyes were shining bright and her plump lips were slightly parted. House smiled awkwardly before quickly going back to his old self.

"That'll be two weeks off of clinic duty, thank you", House said, standing up and walking over to his amp. He switched it off and put his guitar next to his sofa again.

"Two weeks of no crotch swabbing", Cuddy corrected, frowning. She suddenly felt very cold without the intense eye-contact that was warming her soul.

"That's what I said." House replied, smirking. He frowned when he saw Cuddy wipe away what looked suspiciously like a tear from her cheek.

"Why are you crying?" He asked, sounding generally concerned.

"Nothing... I just... I just feel a bit down. That's all." She answered. She formed a weak smile on her face, trying to convince herself as well as House. She wasn't lying, she did feel down, but only because she was hoping that House would kiss her rather than stand up and talk about what she owed him.

House's frown deepened when he looked further in to Cuddy's pale face and realised why she was crying. "Cuddy, I-"

"Don't say it... I know what you're going to say, and I'd rather you didn't say it. I just feel lonely and vunerable. This doesn't mean anything. I'll just go." Cuddy said, interrupting. She stood up and headed towards the door.

"What did you think I was going to say?" House asked, raising his voice but not in a harsh way. He just wanted to know what she thought.

Cuddy was too tired to bother arguing so instead of telling him to leave her alone she told him. "You'll tell me that I'm too..." Cuddy began. She paused, trying to think of the right words to explain what she was thinking. House stayed silent, waiting for her answer. "You'll tell me that I'm too annoying, or that I'm too evil, or that I'm not what you're looking for." Cuddy said, a little louder than she meant to.

House looked down at the floor, leaning on his cane. "You've got it all wrong." He said, his shocking blue eyes looking back up at Cuddy. "All of it. I'm not going to tell you that you're too anything. Because you're not... You're just..." He paused, lost for words. He didn't know how to say that she was perfect, that she was the most unique woman he'd ever met. Cuddy sighed thinking that he had paused because he didn't want to tell her the real reason he didn't want to be with her.

"House, I know that you're probably trying to let me down easy, but-" She began, but she stopped when House dropped his cane and walked towards her. If he couldn't tell her, he'd show her.

He put his hands on her hips as she looked at him with a confused look in her eyes. He pulled her closer, feeling their bodies melt in to each other and forget everything else. She slipped her hands round his neck and pulled him towards her, just close enough to feel his breath on her lips but not touch him. She closed her eyes and licked her lips. House saw Cuddy's tongue and immediately used the opportunity to kiss her. Her tongue didn't quiet manage to make it back in to her mouth before she felt House's lips meet hers in a hungry passion to taste her. House felt Cuddy's tongue against his lips as she opened her mouth. His own tongue barrelled in to her mouth as they held each other as close as possible, not wanting to be separated for any reason. Cuddy bumped in to the door behind her as House kissed her so fast that all the kisses blended in to one long, passionate kiss, containing all the unspoken love in the world.

After several minutes of intense kissing they broke apart and stared in to each other's eyes and smiled. Cuddy was the first to speak...

"I got it all wrong then, did I?" She smiled.


End file.
